We love America. We love our landscapes, and our sporting traditions, and our rich outdoors culture, and our fisheries, and we’re willing to fight for it.

by Todd Tanner - Tuesday, Mar 17th, 2015

Sunset on the Yellowstone River (photo: Tim Saunders).

We love to fish. We love it. Not in that juvenile, sloppy-wet-kiss way that so many of us remember from high school, but with an “I come alive with a fly rod in my hand” love that’s grounded in maturity, appreciation and respect for our angling traditions. We’ve been fishing for decades and there are very few other activities that bring us so much joy or help us connect to the natural world on such an elemental level.

Unfortunately, those of us who love to fish, and who see the necessity for protecting our landscapes and waterways, are coming under attack. It turns out - and no, we’re not making this up - that we are “radicals.” As Ty Hansen pointed out in a recent Hatch Magazine piece, the energy and resource extraction industries are targeting hunters and anglers. Those of us who support conservation are being portrayed as extremists and radicals.

So what is a radical? Seriously, what does it mean? Is protecting our favorite trout stream a radical act? What about defending an Alaskan salmon river from a mining company? Or how about passing on a healthy natural world to our kids and grandkids? Because those of us who want to share clean water, clean air and healthy landscapes with future generations are being ridiculed and marginalized. It’s almost as if our love for the great outdoors is standing in the way of “progress.”

Here’s something you should know. Most people don’t give a damn whether we hold on to our fishing. They don’t care if there are trout in our streams, or bass in our ponds, or bonefish cruising our saltwater flats. We live in a culture where growth, both physical and economic, trumps everything else; where no tradition, no heritage, no single aspect of American life is deemed so sacrosanct that it can’t, and shouldn’t, be tied down and sacrificed on the fetid, blood-specked altar of progress. It’s grow or die; it’s balls to the wall; it’s greed is good. Nobody - not the President, not Congress, not Wall Street - is willing to consider that unfettered, unexamined growth might not be the best path forward, or that we should steer the good ship America toward a more sustainable, more balanced future.

Sadly, if you agree with us you’re just another radical. You don’t want the Pebble Mine? You’re a radical. You don’t want corporate farms to dump pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers into our streams and rivers? You’re a radical. You don’t want suburban sprawl to trash the landscapes you loved when you were a kid? You’re a radical. You don’t want oil and gas rigs to despoil your favorite section of National Forest? You’re a radical. You want to keep our public lands in public hands? You, dear friend, are a dyed-in-the-wool, honest-to-goodness radical.

Oh, and you say you’re concerned about climate change? Well, not only are you a radical, but you’re a communist. You should go back to Mother Russia, comrade, and take all your commie friends with you.

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And that, sadly, is what we’re up against - that kind of hostile, knee-jerk, reactionary crap, which paints sportsmen as radicals working to undermine everything good and decent and pure about America. Clean air is a luxury we can’t afford. Clean water is something we should get from the private sector - but only, of course, after we’ve paid for it. Public land should be sold off to stoke the engine of economic growth. Fishing … well, fishing is probably okay, as long as it doesn’t interfere with anything important, and as long as anglers don’t try to protect America’s natural resources from aggressive exploitation.

That’s the playbook. That’s the meme coming from our opponents. But you know what? It’s bullshit.

That’s right, we call bullshit. Because we aren’t radicals. And we’re getting tired of all these morally-bereft, intellectually-challenged, “greed is good” free market fundamentalists painting us as the exact opposite - the exact opposite - of what we really are.

We’re patriots. We love America. Our sporting roots run deep, and we were raised to appreciate our outdoor heritage. We want - and this is the crux of it; this is vital - to hold on to the things that make our country great; to share them with our families, and our friends, and with generations still to come. We want our kids to have access to the same incredible fishing we’ve enjoyed, and if we’re lucky enough to have grandkids, we want them to grow up in a country that still revels in the outdoors and that still shares in the sweet, ripe fruits of freedom. America is the best country in the world for anglers because we’ve fought, time and again, for clean water and clean air and healthy landscapes. We’ve fought to give our kids and grandkids a shot at a decent future. What could be more noble, or more honest, or more ethical?

The real radicals are the people who put profits above everything else, who can’t wait to carve muscle from bone as this great American experiment in self-governance slowly collapses under the weight of their greed and ignorance. The real radicals are the rapacious profiteers who hate public lands and public waters because our landscapes are protected, at least partially, from their insane “profit at all cost” mentality. They’re the folks who, without a second thought - hell, without an initial thought - are willing to sacrifice their children and grandchildren to the cannibalistic gods of free market fundamentalism.

Enough. We have literally had enough. We’re sick of liars and sociopaths pointing at us and yelling “Radicals!” We’re tired of hired guns sitting down at their keyboards and smearing good organizations like Trout Unlimited and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. We refuse to sit silently on the sidelines while America-haters wear our flag - while they literally wrap themselves in Old Glory - to camouflage their true intentions.

So we have a message for all the haters who are attacking sportsmen. It’s a simple message, but it’s heartfelt.

We love America. We love our landscapes, and our sporting traditions, and our rich outdoors culture, and our fisheries, and we’re willing to fight for it; for all of it, for every last inch, for every river and stream and forest and meadow, for every kid who dreams of trout or salmon or bass or bluegills or tarpon. Greed will not triumph. Flat-earth idiocy will not reign supreme. Our fisheries will not fall prey to snake oil salesmen and crooked politicians. Not on our watch.

Comments

I agree100% with every word you wrote ! We have to stay strong for our grand children and their children. We cannot lose this battle ! Please add my name.
P.S. I caught my first fish 65 yrs. ago. Thank You for your efforts.

You just did, Chris. If enough folks want to formally sign on, perhaps we'll find a way to make that happen. But, for now, I'd encourage those interested in doing so to simply add their name here in the comments.

And, if you check the "Notify me when new comments are posted" box, you can get notifications as others sign on or as we update with other information.

I stand firmly with my fellow hunters, anglers and friends on this. I have worked in wildlife and conservation for more than 30 years professionally and now am doing so personally. The peril we all face as well as the risks posed to the future of our recreational passions has never been greater. We should be scared and we should be angry but more importantly we should be informed, active, and organized. We should in all of this be aware that billions are being spent by those who want to continue to pollute or have favored access to our public lands to confuse the public and continue the degradation of the wild areas we all hold dear. My hat is off to those who put together this letter for all of us--they are heroes. And they offer examples to the rest of us to stand up to those interests who want to cloud the science on climate change, sell off our public lands, sully our waters and remove those bedrock protections established by conservationists and their allies nearly 50 years ago. Thank to Hatch Magazine for printing this important letter.

Bringing sportsmen into the conservation discussion on the side of the resource is vital if we are to beat back those who would co-opt fishing and hunting and use these pastimes against those of us who truly do fish and hunt. Share this far and wide, and please, send this open letter to your member of Congress. Thank you, Hatch, for publishing this letter!

I am with you, but to be fair, the groups doing some of the complaining here are not exactly role models. Many groups, including TU and TRCP, supported horrendous farm bill conservation program cuts that other groups fought tooth and nail to stop right up to the end. And not just supported, but gave in before the negotiations even started and crippled the conservation community's positions throughout.

Good to see the fighting spirit, but these groups have to step up ALL the time, for every fishery and on every issue, and not just when the political trade-offs for their particular pet cause of the day are at stake. The big conservation groups need to be consistent.

Folks interested in adding their voice to the mix can sign the Sportsmen's Pledge at the BHA website. Let's showcase our values and the support behind conservation: https://www.backcountryhunters.org/index.php/sportsman-s-pledge
Nice piece. Would have been nice to have names of female conservation leaders on this letter as well. Women are a mighty political force.

I would further encourage all people affected by unchecked development to write their state and federal representatives to express their opinions every time a bill that threatens our shared public resources. I think I've written about a dozen times this year do far. You may be surprised... they write back. Add me to the list.
Shared to the facebook river snorkeling community.
Russ Ricketts

Why are we surprised? Why would any politican favor outdoor recreational activity instead of the wealth to be found in supporting resource extraction? Why ask the public to pay taxes at all when some of that money might support a local park? Privatize it all. Capitalize it all. Extract it all. Full speed ahead and never mind that we can't breath the air or drink the water. So short sided. Greed. What a terrible, terrible state of mind. Sad.

You can add my name to this list as well. It is good for us to support the efforts of so many conservation causes. But better still that we show up. There are myriad opportunities for direct personal involvement in conservation projects, habitat restoration, hands on field work and laboratory work, as volunteer Citizen Scientists . But we have to show up. We have to get our hands dirty.It is no longer enough to simply add our name to the rolls, send in a few dollars to a good cause, and hope for the best. We need to make phone calls, write real letters, attend meetings, give public testimony. We need to stand and deliver. These are our resources too. If we want a better future, it is up to us to make it happen.

Thank you for speaking the truth. This shit has to stop. I live in Wisconsin and this state is feeling the full weight of the SCOTUS decision to treat corporations as humans. Scott Walker and his KOCH addiction have bought this state and are doing their best to sell it to the highest bidder.

Very interesting read. I'm from Australia, and there's quite a different mentality over here. Here, hunters and fishers tend to be far more conservative when it comes to climate change science and conservation. They love the outdoors, but all seem to be denialists, and downright backwards in their ways. Puts me in an awkward position in the community, as I'm both a keen angler and beginning to bow-hunt. If I mention conservation too much, or the possible impacts of climate change on the sport we love, I'm labelled a "greenie" (the worst insult, apparently). I wish all the hunters and anglers I knew had the mentality of the above article. Some very good points were made here, thanks for the great read!

Well I guess that I am a radical after all. Great work but one small correction. It's altar not alter. From one Lutheran radical clergy who would like to "alter" their arrogant misuse of my Boss's creation.

copy this and mail it all of your politicians - local, state and federal. Be sure to add a comment of your own, in your own words too. This certainly is not a time to get discouraged, but to not back down and push for our values. Thanks for the missive.

Grew up rambling around our farm, fishing the adjacent Pee Dee and our ponds. I was lucky to have this land but so many others only have public lands to discover & appreciate nature. I was struck just recently with the heritage these places inculcate as my 90yr old Uncle bagged is yearly deer & bass just a few weeks before he passed. He reveled in teaching grandkids the art of the cast & the understanding of patience fishing & hounding entail. In so many cities all the new generation knows is dense housing and micro green spaces. We must defdnd the wild places our concept of country was founded upon. Please add my voice to your elliquite article. Marion Laney

Look at what's going on in British Columbia. The BC government is aligning itself with Big Timber, Big Mining, and Big Fish Farming. One of the goals seems to be to drive down wild fish populations. Because as Big Money knows, rivers without anglers to protect them and forests without hunters as stewards are easy pickings. Get rid of the outdoorsmen, and let the short-term profits and carnage begin. Jack Donachy

I understand your point here, and I wholeheartedly agree with protection, but I have a hard time with your message. Essentially you have made the point, "I am not a radical, you are!". Seems rather childish and non-productive to say "I know you are but what am I" and think that some sort of productive discussion can happen.

I am a firm believer that solutions can be made that can benefit both sides of the argument, but calling each other names is hardly a way to get there.

Free Market capitalism is a solution for unfettered growth along with sustainability. Look at Tesla, and new up and coming companies like Grove labs out of Boston. These are free market solutions that will hopefully end up moving solutions to the individual, and not the corporation.

The biggest problem will always remain the same, as long as there is a demand, there will always be a supply. Until you can solve this problem, the two groups will just perpetually call each other names and play it out in court.

A good solution might be to set up an "hatch" incubator that helps out companies that solve this ever growing demand problem from Mining and Big-Ag.

I posted this on FB page of Surfcaster's Journal which posted a link to this article:

"Drivel- "as this great American experiment in self-governance slowly collapses" More drivel- "They’re the folks who, without a second thought - hell, without an initial thought - are willing to sacrifice their children and grandchildren to the cannibalistic gods of free market fundamentalism." Hyperbole much?

Nobody wants dirty air and water but this characterization of the free market (a true free market) as the core of pollution problems is drivel. "Flat-earth idiocy will not reign supreme." = people who don't buy into the climate-change-which-was-global-warming-the-science-is-settled idiocy. How about this being an open letter to the world and not just American anglers? Fishing doesn't have any borders last I checked and there are a lot of other countries with different types of government that are far worse at protecting their resources.

I'm a sportsman and I've been a member of TU but I won't buy into this line of thinking. It is not radical to voice your concerns and ask for members of the sport to keep watch but what I quoted from the article above drips with radicalism. This is just a veiled attack on our society and the freedoms we enjoy. That mining company probably had a hand in supplying the materials to create the device you're reading this post on. That evil energy company that is going to "despoil your favorite section of National Forest" as you put it had a hand in providing the energy to power said device.

One last thing: "Nobody - not the President, not Congress, not Wall Street - is willing to consider that unfettered, unexamined growth might not be the best path forward, or that we should steer the good ship America toward a more sustainable, more balanced future." First, I don't look to government to be a guide anything regarding my future. Just how do you propose that these governing entities "steer" us? What rights do they take away for that "balanced future." Who decides that future? I trust the many individuals making individual decisions far more than I'll ever trust any elected or unelected bureaucrat in an office far removed from the resources. Perhaps they decided there are too many people in a location and not only do they deny and form of development but they ban you from fishing or hunting or hiking there "for the good of the collective?" Hey, we put it in their hands, right? It is the "more sustainable" choice.

I don't consider folks looking to conserve what we have as radicals. However, I do consider what I just read to be radical. No thanks."

Radical is willing to kill the earth for a profit, which is what the free market has done so far. The unfettered capitalist experiment has proven one thing, if left to its own devices when choosing between what is right, and what is easy, 99.9% of the time the market chooses what is easy. This is not acceptable, and your self-styled brand of anarchy is NOT the solution. We need to listen to people who actually study this; the ecologists, biologists, and climate scientists. If that means not fishing on my favorite creek for a few years in order that the trout population can return to health, so be it. This is not our world, we're simply temporary stewards, and we have no right to destroy it as we have.

Stew - Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m afraid, though, that you are misinterpreting our message. We’re not being childish or non-productive. We’re standing up for ourselves and our fellow anglers, and we’re telling the politicians and the profiteers that we won’t allow them to sell off our fishing for a handful of silver.

Right now, industry-sponsored groups are attacking our top conservation organizations. Why? Because, as Jack Donachy pointed out a few comments up the thread, "rivers without anglers to protect them and forests without hunters as stewards are easy pickings. Get rid of the outdoorsmen, and let the short-term profits and carnage begin.”

Go to https://www.greendecoys.com and see what those slimy bastards are saying about great conservation organizations like Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership; groups that work day-in and day-out to protect our angling.

At the end of the day, we’ve tried being nice. We’ve tried being reasonable. But when some rotten s.o.b. walks up, punches you in the face and tries to steal everything you hold dear, you have a choice to make. You can cower and cringe and try to appease the aggressor, or you can fight back.

Hunting and fishing are part of the fabric of America. Let us all join together to protect what we so rightly deserve. Ask any of our military that fight for our rights and freedom everyday what they think about hunting and fishing and if our precious lands, rivers and stream are worth fighting for!

Count me in! I hope I can show my future kids what fishing is all about... I'm 17, but I firmly believe fishing is amazingly conservative. I'll be called an idiot, that I don't know what I'm talking about, don't know what I'm getting in to, but I do: the preservation of America.

Hell, I'm Canadian and I agree with every word. Our rivers are in trouble as well. Laws once protecting our fishing bearing streams are disappearing fast, all so dam building and pipelines can destroy them without any regard for public opinion or the environment. Kept up the good fight...

Well, this was a great way to stir people up and get a few comments, no? Good for you. As for the nature of the debate though - there are some of us who aren't radicals and some of us who are - and what I think you've done here is imply that "those evil corporations and mining companies and the like" think everyone who likes to hunt or fish or hike or bike or camp are "radicals." I'm pretty sure they weren't talking about everyone. How do I know? Well, because only a select group of ....ummm.....you'll pardon the "on the nose" nature of this.... a select group of radicals would get so upset over being called radicals. It's a catch-22 to be sure, but if the shoe fits and all that jazz...

Protecting resources is one thing. Stopping any progress ( there's a bit of irony in there, if you can find it ) because you love fish more than you love jobs and electricity and a good economy is pretty radical. I know plenty of fishermen, most of them fly anglers, who would love to see coal mining dead, fracking stopped and everyone taking their horse and buggy to their favorite trout stream. Or their Prius. Same thing.

Is defending a watershed or fishery "radical?" Depends on how you defend it, what your motives are, and whether or not there's actually a dragon at the gate to defend said resource from or not. Many times the dragon at the gate is actually just a straw-dragon, there to raise funds or stir up fevor among the ignorant - and not really a fire breathing monster that will destroy ( name your thing - fishing, hunting, hiking, wilderness, water quality ) forever and ever and ever.

Are there radicals out there? Sure. Are they running some of the biggest conservation groups we have in America? Absolutely. Are they ironically unwilling to compromise, though they ask the same of the oil, gas, mining and other industries? Of course they are. That's what makes them radical, and the rest of us not radical.

Respect the resource. Respect the land. Respect the wild game and fish and little creatures that go bump in the night. But let's not continue on with the charade of worshiping nature like it's something that can be destroyed with a single swipe of the pen, or an ill word spoken about your favorite stretch of river.

Everything will be OK if you don't blow things out of proportion, as long as you can find something to write about that people relate to and care about. You'll still get the hits and likes, and no one has to get righteously furious over those evil companies that would dare to put a mine or factory within 1000 miles of a pristine clump of rocks.

Yes Virginia, there are radicals in fishing and hunting. I expect them to be along right after this post is over. Which is now.

I appreciate where you are coming from. I'm not against industry, or "progress". The big problem I see with industrial development is that the profits of many of the activities that despoil landscapes go to the "evil corporations" while the cost of cleaning up every time an oil spill happens or some toxic waste gets spilled in a lake, or citizens get sick because of pollutants in the air, comes from the citizens and tax payers. All I hear from big polluters is "We'll go bankrupt if we have to pay to clean it up", the "too big to fail" argument that has created this corporate welfare state at the expense of the citizens. I was raised to believe that if you make a mess, you clean it up. If I come to your house and take a shit in your sink, and then ask you to clean it up, I don't expect the be invited back. The same standard should be applied to industry. If you make a problem for my community that you can't fix, you shouldn't be allowed to do business here.

I'm all for development of technologies and industries that improve our lives and provide jobs, goods and services to communities, but if they can't do business in a way that respects the land and communities they want to use, then we should take a good hard look at whether we should allow such industries to continue to thrive. We are a nation of brilliant thinkers and innovators. We can find cleaner, better, more sustainable and efficient ways of providing what we need. Let's stop coddling these mega-millionaires who don't want to play by the rules of decency and external respect.

Clean air, fertile land, and safe drinking water is a right all people have. I know you think that we're all going to far in condemning "evil corporations", but there's many communities in THIS country that have been deprived of those things. That's not fair, it's not right, and it's not American.

There can be no cause more patriotic than defending what's left of North America from capitalist predators. The fear we're being sold that our very lives are at risk from elements 'hostile' to us in the middle east is a sham, a sleight of hand to distract us while our parks, rivers, and lakes are savaged, our air made toxic, our food unhealthy, and our water polluted. Edward Abbey said it best years ago: Capitalism has the philosophy of a cancer cell. Do not fall prey to the faux democratic gesture of holding public hearings on whether or not to mine, dam, pollute, your neighborhood. The answer is NO YOU CAN'T, NO YOU WON'T. There will be no vote on whether to foul the air or water. If they do it, then we must STAND OUR GROUND. Our lives, our children's lives depend on it.

In NY State where I live the proposed 124 mile "Constitution" frack gas pipeline project is one example of fossil fuel extraction infrastructure threatening pristine trout streams. These streams are theoretically protected by NY State's strict water quality standards but the pipeline company is pushing hard against the NY DEC to make the project a reality. More information here: www.stopthepipeline.org

Right on! Add my name! Down here in Arkansas some crap-ass pig farm is trying to build a facility that dumps pig waste in the Buffalo River. Pristine small mouth waters that would be ruined if it happens. You guys should check it out if you haven't already.

So well written. I'm proud to add my name to this list. My father used to say similar things in the Flathead Valley many years ago as the population expanded and newcomers decreed over and over that urban expansion was more important than maintaining fishing and hunting resources. For myself, Jerry Chase and many others like him, Thank You.

As a volunteer director for a nonprofit conservation organization, everything said rings so true and is at the heart of the problem. Ever time I write an article I always remind readers that its our responsibility to preserve the resources we have today so that our children...the future of our sport and passion...can enjoy the same things we do. Extremely well said and timely. Press on!

Fantastic article. We ALL need to tell our governments and oil companies and the likes, we won't let you bully us and we won't let you take what is left of our precious resources. This is happening all over the world and we need to fight like hell to stop it !!

Wow, I'm a little concerned, am I ever going to be let into your country again as a lifetime member of TU. Similar things are going on in Canada, so you are not alone. Recently the Provincial government of Alberta changed the Water Act to provide more "access" to corporations. I love my province but am highly concerned that there will be clean water available for future generations.

What has been put into words is what has been going through my mind for a long time. I have been working in conservation and environmental protection for over 35 years professionally and as a grass roots volunteer. The only thing I would add is that our work is done in cooperation and the intent is that the protection of our water resources and ultimately our fisheries will benefit everyone. Sustaining our water resources will also sustain our economy.

This is an important message to all outdoors people. Especially those that may not affiliate with the lifestyle as strongly as some of us, but simply appreciate being able to drive out to the country to for some leisure time once in a while. I've been thinking for many years it's time for all of us that enjoy public lands (including the agencies that manage them, and the communities they serve) to come together to form some kind of unified coalition against this shit. The forces we're up against are politically potent and wield a financial machine. But, just think about how much money is spent every year at REI, Bass Pro Shop, Columbia Sportswear, and all the other outdoor retailers across the country. Not to mention the millions of dollars spent annually by people on outdoor related vacations to ski resorts, national parks, fishing trips etc. There's a lot of time and money invested in the outdoors in America. That should not be ignored.

This is also not a partisan issue. There are just as many, if not more, Republicans as Democrats and Independents that enjoy an outdoor lifestyle. In many rural parts of the country (in the heart of the reddest of states) , families depend on being able to bag a few fish and a deer or elk every year to keep food on the table. Unfortunately, the prospect of high paying jobs entices communities to sell out their own best interests. Part of the battle is re-enforcing the idea community investment in sustainable infrastructure, green technology, and eco-tourism creates industries that will provide jobs for future generations and keeps the money local, not in the pockets of multi-national corporations that will pull out as soon as they have taken what they came for, leaving a legacy of unemployment and spoiled landscapes in their wake.

This letter hit the nail on the head better than almost anything I've read on conservation in recent years. It's time to get organized and unite all outdoors enthusiast, no matter what your hobby, to stand up for the lands we love. Please share this with everyone you know!

GREAT piece! Dead on! I am part of a group fighting fracking here in Idaho now. The industry has leased massive amounts of our major river beds to frack along with tens of thousands of acres of housing developments and farmland across the community. We are just getting the word out to sportsmen, and women. God help us.

Thank you for being willing to be labeled "radical" when you are really just "conservative" in the truest sense of the word. I have two books to recommend to anyone who agrees with this letter, "The Unsettling of America" by Wendell Berry (written in 1976 and proving to be prophetic) and "Crunchy Cons" (as in crunchy conservatives) by Rod Dreher. They both speak to the problems you have addressed above in a reasoned and compelling way. The last time I fished was with my grandfather and a cane pole in a pond in Cleveland County, North Carolina in the 1980s. We would always cook what we caught if it was big enough. I can't say that I would feel comfortable eating fish from most ponds these days.

Brilliantly composed piece here. I'm with you. I can tell you as a teacher I do my best to spread the truth about our natural resources and the infringement we are facing under the cover of "progress". I fight tooth and nail every chance I get for keeping America the wild country it's meant to be. Progress is taking less from the land and leaving more for whose to come next.

As a life member of TU, a member of BHA and the TRCP, a father, a veteran and a dude that loves America will you please add my name to the list of radicals at the bottom of this letter.

I've read what the "green decoy" folks say and my blood boils. We are in a corporate driven media/public perception war and the craziest part is that we are paying for the lawyers trying to transfer our lands. We are footing the bill for a war against the great outdoors.